As John Wall and the rest of the Washington Wizards looked on from the sidelines in the final minutes of last year’s playoffs, they knew that their miraculous season was coming to an end. This loss in the conference semifinals series 4-2 to the Indiana Pacers officially eliminated the Wizards from the playoffs. Many fans in Washington thought that this was going to be a short-lived success as the Wizards have had a constant string of mediocre seasons. However, nearing the halfway point on the 2015 NBA season, the Wizards sit at 31-17 and are third place in the Eastern Conference as a top ten team. With another playoff season in their grasp, fans are wondering how far this team can go.
“I think people are just starting to notice how good the Wizards are and it’s refreshing because of how bad the Redskins have been,” said lifelong Wizards fan and senior Kiernan Stroup.
Fellow Washington sports fan sophomore Ben Celestino also thought that their playoff appearance last year will help them for the future
“I think think that the experience they gained last year was really big, players they have are super young and they really needed that experience and it showed especially down the stretch when they were down by a few points they just couldn’t come back because they had never been in that situation… but I think that that playoff experience is going to help them this year.” said Celestino
Two of the NBA’s young superstars, John Wall and Bradley Beal, are carrying this squad along with fan favorite Marcin Gortat and veteran forward, Paul Pierce. So far this season the Wizards have started games very well, it has been their play down the stretch that has lead to blown leads and heartbreaking losses to fans. All-Star point guard John Wall is nursing a strained Achilles tendon and the Wizards are 3-7 in their last ten games, finally beating the Brooklyn Nets to snap a five game losing streak. Fans wonder how far this team can go in the playoffs if they are unable to play more consistent basketball. Sophomore Marisa Fitz has a more positive opinion on their recent play.
“I think they have a chance of making it pretty far in the playoffs based on their season,” said Fitz.
The season has been defined by exciting games and big plays like Bradley Beal’s tip in as time expired versus the Orlando Magic,
” [One of the most exciting games of the year] was the first win against the Cavaliers when we just completely dominated them,” Stroup said.
As the season goes on it has became more and more apparent that the Wizards seem playoff bound but only time will tell as the second half of the season begins.
Even before Lebron James returned to play for his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers the entire D.C. area began requesting for the Prince George’s County native, Kevin Durant, to come and play for the Wizards. Durant will be a free agent starting in the summer of 2016 and many await his decision. Of course that is still a long way away with many different factors having to be accounted for but some fans can already imagine the reigning MVP coming to D.C.
“I think every Wizards fan, myself included, would be so pumped to have KD come to D.C.” said Fitz. The question remains that if Durant did come to the Wizards, would the move work?
“They could win the finals easily with him, I think that they can get to the finals even without him.” said Stroup.
